Page 984 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 1990
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in obstetrics. I speak in terms of birthing centres, in particular, as one of the options open.
Let me start by commenting on the amendment moved by Mr Humphries. No, I will not be supporting the amendment moved by Mr Humphries. It is not that I object to the first paragraph of it in particular, but I am not in any way going to commend the Government's redevelopment plans because I object most strongly and most strenuously to them. If Mr Humphries believes that he can swing us in with a cover-all motion along those lines to support the ridiculous and objectionable redevelopment plans that the Alliance Government has put forward, then he is sadly mistaken.
Mr Jensen: That is pretty inconsistent.
MR MOORE: I see Mr Jensen interjecting but, of course, he is feeling guilty about the shift from Rally position. I can understand that, but by now he ought to be getting used to the notion that they shift from their position all the time, anyway.
The most important thing here to me, and the most disappointing part about Mr Humphries' motion, is that the original motion was bipartisan. We could have had a motion coming out of here that was bipartisan, and then he could have gone to the press and said, "Look, we have a bipartisan motion and the Alliance Government has already put it into practice". I would have found no trouble with that. I would have been quite comfortable with it, and quite comfortable, as I say, with the first paragraph of that motion.
What we have instead is a situation that whenever members of the Opposition put up a motion the Alliance Government uses its numbers to turn it around to pat itself on the back. If members of the Government really think that that is going to work, then I think that they will have to realise that all they can achieve by doing such things is to ensure the lack of a bipartisan approach on such matters. I find the way that Mr Humphries has done that entirely objectionable. I accept what he is trying to achieve and I accept that he has taken a major step, which Labor refused to do, and he has made a commitment on birthing centres in particular. I will get back to birthing centres later because I do congratulate the Government on that particular initiative. It is not words, it is action, and I make no bones about congratulating you on that.
The question really is who has responsibility in terms of obstetrics, and the answer to me is very simple, it is the mother. Often that concept has been lost, particularly by members of the medical profession. There has been a growing recognition amongst women that they have certain rights over their body, including the whole birthing process, and part of those rights is to choose how they are going to have that baby.
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